Additional Coverage:
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not attend a hearing on Friday convened by a Republican-led state Senate committee that has been investigating her handling of the Georgia election interference case involving former President Donald Trump.
Willis has contested the subpoenas issued to her by the committee, her office previously informed ABC News.
The committee had planned to hear “sworn testimony” from Willis at today’s hearing, according to a press release.
Willis’ attorney, former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she “will not appear until there has been a judicial determination of the validity of the subpoena.”
Barnes did not respond to ABC News’ request for a comment on Friday.
Republican State Senator Bill Cowsert, who chairs the committee, said at the start of the hearing, “we have subpoenaed Fani Willis to testify … she is defying her subpoena and not appearing.”
“But we will welcome her if she appears at some point during the meeting,” Cowsert said, before proceeding with other matters and testimony from different witnesses.
Willis charged Trump and 18 others with a racketeering indictment for allegedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. All defendants, including Trump, pleaded not guilty. Four defendants later accepted plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against the others.
In March, Judge Scott McAfee ruled that either Willis or prosecutor Nathan Wade must recuse themselves from the case due to a “significant appearance of impropriety” related to a previous romantic relationship between the two. Wade subsequently stepped down.
The Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations was formed earlier this year with the objective to “thoroughly investigate the allegations of misconduct” by Willis. The committee aims to “enact new or amend existing laws and/or change state appropriations to restore public confidence in the criminal justice system.”
Cowsert had previously stated that the committee doesn’t have the authority to disqualify Willis from the election case or to criminally prosecute her, but it seeks to “investigate many of these troubling allegations.”
A Georgia court of appeals paused the election interference case in June, pending a court decision on whether Willis can remain on the case. Oral arguments are scheduled for December 5, a month after the presidential election.
In a separate matter, a Georgia state prosecutor announced on Friday that Lt. Gov. Burt Jones would not face criminal charges for acting as one of Trump’s “fake electors” in the 2020 election.
Pete Skandalakis, head of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, was assigned to investigate Jones after Willis was disqualified from the investigation by a Fulton County judge due to her holding a fundraiser for Jones’ political opponent in 2022.
Skandalakis wrote on Friday that the case against Jones “does not warrant further consideration” and that Jones “did not act with criminal intent” when he served as an alternate elector and assisted Trump’s efforts in other ways. Jones was not indicted in Willis’ election interference investigation.